Information Interoperability Challenges: Strategic Approach and Federated Data Management

John Dodd - CSC

Bruce Peat - eProcess Solutions

Michael Lang - Metamatrix

Information QualityInformation Quality

Enterprise Information Management

FEAPMODRM

FEAPMODRM

Congressional Impact on G2B

Congressional Impact on G2B

Technology EnablersTechnology Enablers

Public TrustPublic TrustGAO

Lessons LearnedGAO

Lessons Learned

ReportsReports

Enterprise Information Management

Objective

Breaking the Functional Stovepipes

• Interoperability Strategy

• Data Management

Interoperability Strategy

Architecture Implementation

– Concepts

– Challenges; Think Differently

– Recommendations

Architecture Implementation

Business Lines Transformation

Federal Enterprise Architecture

DoD Architecture Framework

NASCIOAdaptive Enterprise Architecture

Agile Enterprise

ImplementationImplementation

Netcentricity

Interoperability

Strategy

Roadmap for going forward and provide traceability from vision to implementation

ArchitectureArchitecture

Concepts

Interoperability

Strategy

Agreements are Key for Interoperability• Agree on ways to accommodate system-to-system differences• Declarative methods for pragmatic interoperability

Business First• Shifting power to the users; customer and business experts• Moving the semantics from applications to the infrastructure layer

Multi-Faceted Architecture • Function-centric; not system or entity• Choice: Web (human), data, process, or services

Successful Communication Relies on Three Principles:• Common Semantics (the “meaning” of something)• Common Syntax (the structure of the message)• Common mechanism.

Interoperability Challenges

Organizational• Perceived loss of control• Lack of incentives to cooperate – What is in it for me?• Lack of funds for cross-organization activities

Architectural • ‘Super Enterprise Architecture’ doesn’t lead to interoperability • Lack of a forum and governance for developing consensus • Data models don’t replace the need information architecture

Technical• Lack of infrastructure to support interoperability & reconciliation• Legacy systems in place with disparate definitions• Shackled: Stovepipe systems and elusive data

Think Differently - Conventional

Physical

Data Link

Network

Transport

Session

Presentation

Application

Open Systems Interconnection - OSI Model

Provides different services to the applications

Converts the information

Handles problems which are not communication issues

Provides end to end communication control

Routes the information in the network

Provides error control between adjacent nodes

Connects the entity to the transmission media

Interconnection

Proved to work well with understanding and mitigating differences with the information pipe

Think Differently – Paradigm Shift

Physical

Data Link

Network

Transport

Session

Presentation

Application

Interconnection

Information Architecture

Navigation

Products / Services

Enabling Technologies

Interfaces

Vocabularies

Content

High

Low

Stability

Agility Model

Objective: insulate business from the high rate of change

Information Architecture for Interoperability

Information Architecture

Navigation

Products / Services

Enabling Technologies

Interfaces

Vocabularies

Content

High

Low

Stability

Agility ModelInformation Architecture

Enables the management of critical Enterprise information artifacts

Source: Lubash Pyramid

Strategic Methodology

Information Architecture

Source: BusinessCentricMethodology.com

Methodology

Str

ateg

ic T

actic

al

Templates – Best Practices

Business Drivers: Model / Process / Constraints

Contract – Collaboration Partner Specific Constraints

• Business Goals

• Frameworks & Standards

• Legacy

• Authoritative Sources

Templates Methodology

Templates provide context for declaration of constraints and choices

Providing Precise Communications

Templates Implementation

Use Case: Architecture Driving Transformation

“No Regret” Recommendations

Business-Centric Methodology

Provide semantic and pragmatic interoperability

Declarative mechanisms allow for mass customization

Provide infrastructure for visibility and discovery

Guidance centered around Communities of Interest

Develop “Centers of Excellence”

Develop and Scope FirstGov

Identify Incentives for Collaboration

Fund Enterprise Interoperability Initiatives

Procurement must Dictate Interoperability

Reference Model

Data and Information Reference Model (DRM) – Will be an aggregated description of the data and information that support program and business line operations, describing types of interactions and information exchanges.

Data and Information Reference Model (DRM) – Will be an aggregated description of the data and information that support program and business line operations, describing types of interactions and information exchanges.

Information and Data Reference Model (DRM): Standards Based Architecture to Support Federated Data ManagementThis paper is based on an approach and a Federated Information Model that can be populated along government Business Lines and be used across Federal, State, Local and International e-government initiatives. The approach is based on both sound information and data base theory, a serious need, and an approach that correlates with standards organizations to create an open and extendable family of information models. These models can be one element of each organization's push for information integration and increased consistency, commonality, and visibility.

Information and Data Reference Model (DRM): Standards Based Architecture to Support Federated Data ManagementThis paper is based on an approach and a Federated Information Model that can be populated along government Business Lines and be used across Federal, State, Local and International e-government initiatives. The approach is based on both sound information and data base theory, a serious need, and an approach that correlates with standards organizations to create an open and extendable family of information models. These models can be one element of each organization's push for information integration and increased consistency, commonality, and visibility.

Federal Enterprise Architecture – A New Business Driven Data Model

» To facilitate efforts to transform the Federal Government to one that is citizen-centered, results-oriented, and market-based.

“A collection of interrelated "reference models" designed to facilitate cross-agency analysis

and the identification of duplicative investments, gaps,

and opportunities for collaboration within and across

Federal Agencies.”

Connect Information and Data Reference Model to BRM: Service Oriented

Access

Data Management Challenges

• Enterprise Data Management is a step child of the Enterprise Architecture– Dirty-Nasty-Complex– Many-many formats Exist– Each is “owned” by and protected from a “territorial” reason– Connected to system not to Process, Organization, Location- Context– Context-Content- Connection- Access Rights are not addressed fully in any standards– Often Data Analysis of Current “As-is” is done in a manual way- which is impossible with

large organization changes– Metadata and Modeling are not understood and value is difficult to define– Emerging technology for information integration has many proprietary approaches– Crossing agency boundaries and business line architecture introduce new data

management issues

• (Gather some challenges from the early DISA, EPA, Justice activities….)• Federated Data Management address some of the challenges- not all more

complete Enterprise Data Management approach is needed.

The Key Principles

• Data is an enterprise asset

• Data is more valuable when standardized, managed, and protected

• Enterprise data security allows appropriate access to different user communities

• Performance, integrity, and manageability are optimized by an enterprise organization of information

• Achieving Enterprise Data Management is an evolutionary process

• Enterprise Data Management must be part of the large enterprise architecture

Federated Data Management

• Must be a standards-based approach

• A Web services approach is the best candidate for data interchangeSteps:

• Define XML Schema• Map Schema to physical data stores• Define WSDL• Get XML document

• Seems simple, straightforward

• However, the mapping of XML schemas to disparate physical data stores can be a black hole

The Result: Inter-Agency Information Federation

Virtual Views

Physical Sources

This approach is equally valid for

intra-agency data integration

Federated Data Management - Metadata

• Federated Data Management is an enormous challenge.• Understanding the underlying metadata must take place

before any integration efforts begin.– Post-it notes

– Spreadsheets

– Registries – ISO 11179, UDDI, ebXML

– Datatypes

– Attributes

– Structure

– Relationships

– Models

What Every CIO Needs to Know About Metadata

Quotes from a CIO recommendation paper written by the federal government CIO council's interoperability committee:

• “Metadata is one of the biggest critical success factors to sharing information …and storing information cost-effectively. Metadata can make your information sharing and storage efforts great successes, or great failures.”

• “Simply put, metadata management is making metadata do more things for more people in more ways, more economically.”

• “The alternative to metadata management is information chaos.”

http://www.cio.Gov/documents/metadata_cio_knowledge_feb_1999.html

Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA) Reference Models

Business Reference Model (BRM)• Lines of Business• Agencies, Customers, Partners

Service Component Reference Model (SRM)

Technical Reference Model (TRM)

Data Reference Model (DRM)

Busin

ess-D

riven A

ppro

ach

Performance Reference Model (PRM)• Government-wide Performance Measures & Outcomes• Line of Business-Specific Performance Measures & Outcomes

• Service Layers, Service Types• Components, Access and Delivery Channels

• Service Component Interfaces, Interoperability• Technologies, Recommendations

• Business-focused data standardization • Cross-Agency Information exchanges

"The Business Reference Model is a function-driven framework for describing the business operations of the Federal Government independent of the agencies that perform them.

The Data and Information Reference Model (DRM) will describe … the data and information that support program and business line operations. “

http://www.feapmo.gov/fea.htm

How Model Driven Integration Works

The FEA & Federated Data Management Approach

The FEA & Federated Data Management Approach

Design-Time Integration of Data Via Web Services Architecture

“Rap Sheet” Use Case: Using MOF models and XML based Web Services

• Law enforcement agencies need access to rap sheets for suspects.

• Federal law enforcement agencies, state police departments, and county police departments store arrest record information in disparate sources.

• XML schema the is best candidate for a useful “exchange” format.

• How do these agencies map the XML schema (rap sheet) to physical data sources?

• How does the FBI access schema-compliant XML documents?

• The document is reported as a Web Service (component) and can be retrieved by any properly authorized entity.

Single Agency Run-time Integration Via Web Service Architecture

Beyond Technology

• Policies are needed• Solution Frameworks- Proof of concepts• Government involvement in Standards Organizations

with Government Contractor Support• Defining Competency Centers with government and

contractor personnel that can share the knowledge and support Cross-Agency and Cross-government projects

Contact Information

For more information about IAC, go to

www.iaconline.org

For more information about the IAC EA SIG, please

contact Kay Cederoth at:

Kay.Cederoth@CA.com

For more information on each of the IAC EA SIG

White Papers, go to:

http://www.ichnet.org/IAC_EA.htm